Tseng stretches Classic lead

Yani Tseng continued her unstoppable charge towards another title as she stretched her lead to three shots after the Kia Classic third round.

The 23-year-old from Taiwan shared first place in Carlsbad, California after her opening 18 holes, built up a two-shot advantage on Friday, and has now improved on that position, with only South Korean Jiyai Shin looking to be a plausible challenger to her dominance in the final round.

While Tseng had three birdies in a tidy round of 69 to reach 12 under, Shin was shooting birdies with a flourish, producing seven of them and three dropped shots around the turn - at the ninth, 10th and 12th - in her 68.

She stands second on nine-under 207.

Se Ri Pak had been Tseng's closest rival after the second round but a 73 saw her fall back to fifth place.

The round of the day came from another South Korean, Sun Young Yoo, who had five birdies in a sparkling 67 and moved into a share of third place with Sweden's Caroline Hedwall, whose 70 maintained her challenge.

Four players shared sixth place on four-under 212 - South Koreans Inbee Park and Chella Choi, England's Jodi Ewart and American Alison Walshe. Park and Choi both recorded 70s, while Ewart and Walshe stumbled to 73s.

Scotland's Catriona Matthew continued her recovery from an opening 79, following Friday's 70 with a four-under 68, a bogey-free round, to reach one-over 217 and a share of 23rd place.

The cream of the LPGA players are building towards the first major of the year, next week's Kraft Nabisco Championship, and Tseng is targeting her 15th tour title this weekend, having picked up number 14 in Phoenix last Sunday.